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Scottish serial killer Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel was executed in 1958 at Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison by hangman Harry Allen. However, it seems to be something of a mystery as to who acted as assistant executioner.
It was apparently reported in some Scottish newspapers at the time that Allen was assisted by his son Brian. However, Brian Allen apparently stated that he never participated in an execution. I have also read that Brian Allen did undertake the training course to become an executioner but subsequently resigned when he became a registered mental nurse as he felt that the post of executioner was incompatible with his new career.
I was looking through "The Executioner's Bible" in my local library today in which the author is able to list the hangman and the assistant for most of the executions in the United Kingdom in the 20th century. The Manuel execution seems to be the only one in which it is uncertain who acted as assistant.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
I have also read Scottish author Robert Douglas's account of how he was detailed to watch over murderer Russell Pascoe in the condemned cell in Bristol Prison in the early 1960s when working as a prison officer. Pascoe was also executed by Allen, and Douglas claimed that Allen appeared in the condemned cell the day before the execution and shook hands with the condemned man Pascoe.
This was certainly not part of the UK execution protocol, and therefore seems highly unlikely to have taken place. However, I have also read that Albert Pierrepoint also shook hands with Derek Bentley the day before his execution in the book on the case written by his late sister Iris entitled "Let Him Have Justice."
Pierrepoint claimed in his autobiography that he never shook hands with Bentley, but his sister claimed that her brother told her that it had happened on one of her final visits to him. Was she lying or mistaken or was her brother confused? Douglas seems to think that Allen shaking hands with Pascoe was a tradition begun by Pierrepoint. Is Douglas lying? I strongly suspect that any hangman appearing in the condemned cell at any time prior to the actual execution would have been liable to dismissal. The authorised procedure was that the executioner would simply observe the condemned person through the flap in the cell door to assess their build for the appropriate length of drop, and would not have any other contact with them prior to the execution itself.
Can anyone add anything further on these points?
It was apparently reported in some Scottish newspapers at the time that Allen was assisted by his son Brian. However, Brian Allen apparently stated that he never participated in an execution. I have also read that Brian Allen did undertake the training course to become an executioner but subsequently resigned when he became a registered mental nurse as he felt that the post of executioner was incompatible with his new career.
I was looking through "The Executioner's Bible" in my local library today in which the author is able to list the hangman and the assistant for most of the executions in the United Kingdom in the 20th century. The Manuel execution seems to be the only one in which it is uncertain who acted as assistant.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
I have also read Scottish author Robert Douglas's account of how he was detailed to watch over murderer Russell Pascoe in the condemned cell in Bristol Prison in the early 1960s when working as a prison officer. Pascoe was also executed by Allen, and Douglas claimed that Allen appeared in the condemned cell the day before the execution and shook hands with the condemned man Pascoe.
This was certainly not part of the UK execution protocol, and therefore seems highly unlikely to have taken place. However, I have also read that Albert Pierrepoint also shook hands with Derek Bentley the day before his execution in the book on the case written by his late sister Iris entitled "Let Him Have Justice."
Pierrepoint claimed in his autobiography that he never shook hands with Bentley, but his sister claimed that her brother told her that it had happened on one of her final visits to him. Was she lying or mistaken or was her brother confused? Douglas seems to think that Allen shaking hands with Pascoe was a tradition begun by Pierrepoint. Is Douglas lying? I strongly suspect that any hangman appearing in the condemned cell at any time prior to the actual execution would have been liable to dismissal. The authorised procedure was that the executioner would simply observe the condemned person through the flap in the cell door to assess their build for the appropriate length of drop, and would not have any other contact with them prior to the execution itself.
Can anyone add anything further on these points?
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